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We started the year with a release (TILTS) and now we’ll end the year with one…

SURPRISE: four of Justin K. Broadrick’s incredible sonic personalities within one impressive 12″ EP, simply titled Christmas.JESU lays the foundation with the initial hymn, along with brilliant remixes from related projects PALE SKETCHER and FINAL, plus an exclusive and brand new remix by the oppressive JK FLESH entity.

Originally self-released as a digital-only EP for Xmas 2010, the 35+ minutes of music within have been sonically upgraded by mastering wizard James Plotkin specifically for the two physical formats. Vinyl edition comes on complimentary ice-blue color wax housed in a glorious high-gloss full color jacket, CD edition also comes with high-gloss artwork and has an exclusive lyrics page.

We are expecting these to arrive at RoboHQ within the first week or two of December and plan to rock all the pre-orders right back out the door hopefully just in time for the holidays. If all goes according to plan, folks should be receiving their packages right around Xmas itself.

However, because the entire postal system gets bogged down around the holidays, it is impossible to guarantee things at this time of year… that being said, Priority Mail is recommended for affordable semi-expedited delivery.

This release has been in the pipeline for ages and we’re glad it’s finally (almost) in existence, even if so damn close to the wire. We’re thrilled to work with Justin K. Broadrick again and have plans to announce another JKB release in 2013.

Beyond that, it’s been a wild year with a lot of changes for us but we’re happy to say that some stability is finally on the horizon with new roots being put down (and/or in motion) after long periods of flux.

We keep chugging along with the Robotic Empire – Online Store and want to genuinely thank everyone who’s ordered from us this year, or… ever! We couldn’t keep this operation afloat without the direct support of our mailorder followers, and we really appreciate all of those who’ve stuck with us through the years or just found out about us recently. It’s getting increasingly difficult to run a label like ours in this “landscape” and blah blah blah, the same thing you’ve probably heard a lot of times by now… but at the end of the day, we are a small operation and sincerely appreciate everyone who’s helped.

Enough emo year-end-sentimentality, let’s get to the MUSIC: lots of cool new stuff joins this update, including a rad NEIL YOUNG t-shirt (the same image infamously connected to LYNYRD SKYNYRD), OLD MAN GLOOM‘s appropriately-timed Christmas re-presses, BONGZILLA, PROTESTANT, THE AUSTRASIAN GOAT, and BASTARD NOISE / MAN IS THE BASTARD vinyl, SUTEKH HEXEN‘s new album and collections release on wax, sinister tapes from NIHILL and HALLOWED BUTCHERY and surprisingly/awesomely a fantastic new TAIGA cassette which is Bryant Clifford Meyer’s solo project, our old dawg who is/was in such acts as ISIS, RED SPAROWES, PALMS and more!

On the re-stock tip we’ve got extensive Denovali vinyl imports aplenty, Magic Bullet essential re-ups abound, LSD AND THE SEARCH FOR GOD, more OLD MAN GLOOM on cassette and vinyl, plus some other random jibba jabb. Here are the full lists:

And last but clearly not least, we have picked a winner for our most recent contest: congratulations to Björn Bauer for his incredible and intricate tree drawing that wins our shirt-design-contest. We received some seriously amazing submissions (either for content, skill and/or ability to make us laugh) but Björn’s fantastic image hit the nail on the head. Check out his website for an extensive portfolio and more info on this great artist. Big ups to everyone who took the time and effort to submit something for this, it was a lot of fun going over all the entries, and (with their permission) we may post a few of the “runner up” images as well. We will post a larger version of Björn’s graphic when we announce shirt ordering info in the coming weeks… stay tuned!

BOOM! Great way to end the year. Hope everyone reading this can reflect on all the good things that have happened to them these past 11-12 months and let it percolate and overpower any bad elements of the year. OK OK enough hippy nonsense, don’t trample your fellow man or anything but Robo-capitalist scum still say “go buy our rotatable plastic circles!”

A small but strong update for this week, as we may be the first folks in the US to be selling the incredible new JESU / ENVY split 12″! Our brethren at Conspiracy Records over in Europe released this beast, and we’re stoked to have been able to import some copies! Here’s a photo, followed by part of the release description:

ENVY have never left their emotionally unstable path of heavy postrock oaths, but again they’ve cracked open it’s core and stripped the sound down to it’s epic essence. Always passionate and persistent, most motivational products create unrealistic expectations but stay blind in the mist. Resembling a dose of insomnia, ENVY blaze like a grey wind through the cream of the Japanese screamo-postrock crop. Shuffling forward with solitude and starring at a dying light, an unknown glow. Splendid emotionally layered riffs and carved drums guide, and give understanding of despair. Deeply wandering through thick clouds of post-hardcore guitar dust, musically channeling the remorseless pieces that lead to the dark side. They continue to swing like an eternal pendulum.

Ever since it’s formation in 2003, guru Justin K. Broadrick has let no one come even close to the throne. On this new JESU slab he incorporates melodic twisted pop elements with downtempo heavyness, creating a stark textured vessel intoxicated by the minimalism of cold techno drama. JESU holds on to the feeling of eternity, still being a modern day flymachine, yet never losing a transient sight. In a world where lies and reality constantly transform, we need new frames of thought. New bricks in the wall, and new days off to rethink how we’ll spend our days off.

Yeah, doesn’t fully make sense but what this boils down to is that this is a badass split, of two badass international bands. The packaging for this release is top notch too, with a study outer jacket housing the printed innersleeve, all with appropriately stark artwork by Hydra Head/ISIS’ Aaron Turner. The vinyl itself is heavy, although probably not quite 180 gram. The pressing of this stunning split LP was 2000 total, all on colored vinyl: 500 on transparent blue, 500 on metallic gold, 700 on solid white and 300 on silver. We got everything but the silver vinyl (the bands themselves are the only way to get it), and unfortunately the mystic unicorn & dolphin puzzles are not included. Limit of 1 per color per customer please.

Not our biggest update ever, but we do encourage you to check out the last few updates in our insanely archived new blog. That link there will take you to all the “online store” tagged blog entries of late.

Several years in the making, the long-awaited JESU / BATTLE OF MICE split is finally available! Even though it took a while, we’re beyond stoked to be the ones releasing this, and each band contributes two exclusive, lengthy tracks on this limited edition release. JESU showcases “Clear Stream” and “Falling From Grace”, two pieces towards the darker end of the spectrum created under the JESU moniker. BATTLE OF MICE deliver the two most sinister songs they’ve recorded, “The Bishop” and “Yellow & Black”. Along with the vocally infamous Julie Christmas, here lies the vocal debut of Josh Graham, which preludes his work in A STORM OF LIGHT and fits as an appropriate segue. Heavier than the material found on their A Day Of Nights debut yet more dynamic overall, these two final (?) tracks from BATTLE OF MICE compliment the JESU material well. While both bands utilize traditional “heavy” music instruments, they are also unified by usage of keys, atmospherics, and general unique elements thrown in to vary it all.

We pressed these as both vinyl and CD releases, separate for a change. Each format is limited to a one-time pressing of 2000 copies. The CD comes house in a mini-gatefold jacket that mimics the larger LP gatefold jacket well. This vinyl is all colored to some degree, broken down in the following quantities:

* 500 copies on semi-translucent SILVER (silver mixed with clear)* 500 copies on BLACK with 1/4th SILVER SPLATTER* 500 copies on CLEAR/BLACK mix (mostly looks black until you hold it up to the light)* 500 copies on ORANGE/CLEAR mix

Also finally available after many years in the making is the VERSE EN COMA debut 10″+CD, Rialto! Somewhere between the present day and unfortunate endings of CITY OF CATERPILLAR, PG.99 and MALADY, a “lost” recording was created but shelved for several years. Five dynamic tracks that collided with both artistic and industry red tape comprise the incredible VERSE EN COMA debut, Rialto. These delays hinder absolutely nothing though, as the power and sheer intensity behind these songs is borderline overwhelming. Unique, passionate and soaring vocals compliment the effects-laden screaming guitarwork and air-tight rhythm section. Coupled with distinctive song-structure and 5+ minute tracks, VERSE EN COMA‘s debut is a downright substantial EP. Both digital CD and analog vinyl formats are coupled together in a gatefold jacket to add to the weight of this release. The pressing info for this one is as follows:

This release can also be found now in the Robotic Empire – Online Store, and should start showing up in stores and distros this week too. Two songs from this release can be heard here.

In addition to these two new releases, we’ve had a fairly massive influx of KILLER new items and restocks in our Online Store. One main item to point out is the HELMS ALEE “self titled” demo on CD, which is a limited prelude to their debut Night Terror album we’ll be releasing on wax in the near future. Other key stuff we’ve stocked are new vinyl and cassette releases from Richmond’s BRAINWORMS, both THOU full-lengths on CD, new CEREMONY CD, and the incredible new PYGMY LUSH, COFFINS and BORIS albums on vinyl.

In the surprising “blast from the past” category, the long-awaited (but minimally packaged) PORTRAITS OF PAST discography CD is finally here. We also scored some ancient CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION 7″s, the insanely elaborate old Deadly Sins 4×7″ comp box set with DAMAD, CATHARSIS, RUINATION, UNRUH (and more), and the old ENEMY SOIL Live at Fiesta Grande flexi 7″! Those things aren’t even made anymore. The first BREATHER RESIST recordings on vinyl (both as picture discs… one shaped like a casket) are also here too, along with the very last of those 10-year-old BONGZILLA 7″s we got back in May (that flew out overnight). Here’s the full list:

That just about sums it up for this time around. We’re still waiting for our copies of TORCHE‘s Meanderthal on vinyl, but at least you can now find it in some stores and online distros. Another post will be made when we finally get our copies in-house.

One last thing to note is that we’ve got some mailorder guys out on tour right now, so please allow at least a couple of weeks for your order to be shipped out. We have it pretty clear on our site to allow roughly 3-4 weeks for your order to arrive, but it seems like a lot of folks get antsy and can’t wait that long. If you can’t wait that long, please get our stuff from other locations. We are a small operation and WILL get you your stuff, but probably not quite as fast as amazon.com. The flipside of that coin is that you’re supporting a family-run business that totally appreciates your support and are stoked to get you new music, as quickly as we can.